Houston 90, Sacramento 81 (F)

SAN MARCOS, Texas, Sept. 15, 2008 (AP) -- Tina Thompson scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Houston Comets to a 90-81 win over the Sacramento Monarchs in the regular season finale for both teams Monday night.

Roneeka Hodges added 14 points for the Comets, who were forced to play their last home game at Strahan Coliseum on the campus of Texas State University because of Hurricane Ike. The game originally was to have been played Friday at Reliant Arena.

Tamecka Dixon added 10 points and Erica White scored nine for the Comets (17-17) who won three straight games to close out the season after losing five in a row.

Nicole Powell scored a team-high 15 points for the Monarchs (18-16), who closed out the season with two straight losses and finished with a 5-12 record on the road.

Adrian Williams-Strong made seven of her eight shots for 15 points, and Kara Lawson added 11 points, despite going 5-for-17 from the field.

The game did not have playoff implications as Sacramento clinched the fourth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference last week. The Monarchs, who will open the postseason against the San Antonio Silver Stars on Thursday, have made the playoffs six straight seasons. That is the longest such streak in the Western Conference.

Houston, winners of the league's first four championships, missed the playoffs for the second straight year under head coach Karleen Thompson.

In the first 4:11 of the game, Sacramento scored at will and raced out to a 13-4 lead. Powell scored nine points in the opening five minutes before the Comets rallied to take a 47-41 lead into the break.

Thompson gave Houston its first lead of the game with a long 3-pointer at 7:12 of the second period to cap a 9-4 Houston run.

Sacramento pulled to within two points, 68-66, on a free throw by Laura Harper with 6:48 left in the game, but Houston went on a 7-2 run over the next three minutes. Thompson scored four of those points.